Gettin' Forgotten
by RiversInYourMind
Summary: She looks up and sees Brooke wiping the tears off of her face; she notices that her makeup still looks perfect. Brooke always was good at hiding her emotions behind a pretty mask. Oneshot. Songfic. Breyton.


Hey guys! Just a little one shot I was working on during the slow moments at work. Hope you like it! The lyrics are Gettin' Forgotten by Cole Swindell. I don't own anything, just borrowing (:

The dam broke in her blue eyes

When that goodbye

Slipped off of my tongue

I said, "Girl, you gonna be fine"

"In no time, you'll be moving on"

I didn't think it'd be this fast

But looking through the plate glass

Of this bar

Peyton is walking along the sidewalk on Franklin Street with a girl from one of her art classes when she sees her. They were just about to cross the road and head back towards campus when she caught a glimpse of auburn hair out of the corner of her eye. Peyton turned around and was looking through the windows of a bar called The Library. Peyton's eyes found her immediately as if she was trained to find her no matter how many distractions were around. She's faced with the backside of Brooke but she knows without a doubt that it's her. How could anyone forget someone like that?

Peyton watches her laugh at something the guy standing next to her says and then swat at his arm, and she knows that Brooke is about to cross the line from being that level of fun drunk that makes everything feel better into the complete oblivion level of drunk. Peyton shoves her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and sets her lips in a thin line. She hears her friend from class, Addison, say to hurry up and come on before the street light changes again but Peyton can't seem to move. It's like she's paralyzed in front of that dirty bar window; staring at what she once thought was her future.

She's up on stage, singing with a frat band

Shoes in her left, beer in her right hand

Got me shakin' my head, good god man

I must have been blind

She got her friends and her free bird face on

Boys buzzin, got 'em getting their chase on

No signs of her putting them brakes on

And no doubt in my mind

That she's just getting rockin'

And I'm gettin' forgotten tonight

Peyton doesn't really know how to feel, standing there staring at Brooke, she can't really be angry or jealous. Peyton looks through the window as Brooke grabs the microphone from that guy, who Peyton decides looks like he has an IQ of about twelve, and starts singing some song. Peyton's green eyes dance with enjoyment as she watches Brooke dance on the tiny stage. Peyton can't hear the song but she can tell from the way Brooke's beer is sloshing around it has a faster beat to it. Peyton isn't sure what made her do it exactly but she finds herself turning around and telling Addison that she'll catch up with her tomorrow but she's going to go into The Library and have a drink with some friends. Addison just shrugs her shoulders and waves goodbye to Peyton. Peyton muses that if Addison would have known her a little better she would know that Peyton doesn't randomly drop in on friends for drinks, she might have known to stop her from doing whatever foolish thing she was about to let happen. When Addison is far enough away that Peyton doesn't think she'll come back she opens the door to the bar and walks inside.

She doesn't want Brooke to see her so she turns her head away from the stage where Brooke is currently standing and goes to the back of the bar and sits down in a corner booth. She orders a beer and turns around slightly so she can see Brooke. Peyton takes in a deep breath. Brooke looks beautiful. That isn't anything new but something is different about her tonight, Peyton thinks. She has lightness about herself, like she doesn't have a care in the world. Peyton thinks that is what's bothering her. Here Brooke was, dancing on stage with some idiot frat guy while Peyton sits in the back of a bar feeling sorry for herself.

Yeah, I was wanting these new wings

So I could do things

Anything that I want

Thought I was gonna fly high

Turns out I couldn't be more wrong

I think I got a broken pair

Cause I should be up there

Where she is

It's not really fair though, Peyton thinks, she doesn't have any right to feel sorry. She was the one after all who ended whatever it was she had with Brooke. Peyton just felt like they were moving too fast and they weren't getting to experience everything that came with college. They had followed each other from Tree Hill to Chapel Hill and Peyton just felt like she needed some space. It's like Peyton forgot what it was like when Brooke and her weren't talking the summer of their junior year. They had mended their friendship senior year after the entire Lucas Scott fiasco and they were back to hanging out all the time and eventually they sort of just, well, they fell for each other. Peyton feels a small smile spread on her lips when she thinks back to how all of this started.

 _Peyton was laying on the ground and Brooke was right beside her, curled up into Peyton's side with her head in the crook of her shoulder; today was one of the days where Brooke just needed someone with her, someone to make her feel safe. They were at the spot underneath the bridge, their bridge, skipping their calculus test. It had been almost a year since Lucas and Brooke had broken up. Peyton looked down at Brooke and felt a frown make its way across her face. She knows that Brooke forgave her for what happened with Lucas but it still bothers Peyton. She just doesn't understand how Brooke can look at her the same when she tried to steal her boyfriend away not once but twice. She would take it all back if it was possible, Brooke deserved better than what Peyton gave her._

" _P. Sawyer, I can hear you thinking all the way over here. What's wrong?" Brooke looks up at Peyton and notices she has tears in her eyes. "Peyt, what's wrong?" Brooke props herself up on her elbow so that she's angled above her. Peyton looks up at her and feels a wave of emotions._

" _I'm just so sorry, for everything. I feel terrible. For what happened with Lucas, for shutting you out for so long and for not believing you said when you loved him. I just-I wish I could take it all back."_

 _Brooke looks down at her green eyes and feels her heart ache. "It's fine, all of that stuff is water under the bridge. It doesn't matter. C'mon, you know that." Brooke takes her finger and wipes a stray tear off of Peyton's cheek. Peyton lets out a hiccup and takes a deep breath._

" _Promise?"_

 _Brooke isn't sure what made her do it. Maybe it was the way Peyton was looking at her like she held her heart in her hands or the way she felt safe pressed up against her or just the general swirl of emotions that came with loving Peyton Sawyer but before Brooke could think it through, she was pressing her lips against Peyton's._

Yeah, way up on stage, singing with a frat band

Shoes in her left, beer in her right hand

Got me shakin' my head, good god man

I must have been blind

She got her friends and her free bird face on

The boys buzzin, got 'em getting their chase on

No signs of her putting them brakes on

And no doubt in my mind

That she's just getting rockin'

And I'm gettin' forgotten tonight

Peyton is pulled out of her thoughts when she hears Brooke let out a loud laugh. Peyton's eyes move across the bar trying to find her. She's still on the stage only now she's dancing and laughing about whatever the guys are saying to her and Peyton knows; she knows that Brooke is leaving her behind.

Peyton knocks back the rest of her drink and then gets up and walks over to the bar. She orders a shot of tequila and another beer and then sits down at the bar suddenly not caring if Brooke sees her. In fact, Peyton thinks, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. It would give them a chance to catch up and stuff. Peyton knocks back the shot of tequila and rolls her eyes at the guy sitting next to her who was talking about how hot Brooke looked up there.

No, she thought, you're being selfish. Guys can say whatever they want about Brooke and you can't do a damn thing about it. It wasn't until now that Peyton realized it wasn't just her that would be moving on and trying new things with new people, but that Brooke would be too. Peyton figured that eventually Brooke would move on but she didn't expect to have to see it or for it to be so soon. They had only broken up six weeks ago and Peyton hadn't even thought about dating someone new.

She turns around on the bar stool, holding her beer, and looks up at Brooke. She had on a pair of dark wash jeans, a simple UNC t-shirt, and she was holding her flip-flops in her hand. Her hair was down in loose curls that Peyton once loved to run her fingers through. She was radiant and Peyton felt nauseous.

She was wonders if maybe she was insane to leave Brooke because from where she's sitting she couldn't think of a single reason why she would ever want to try something with anyone else. The more she watches those idiotic frat boys smile and flirt with Brooke the more her rage builds inside of her. She sees that the bartender had set another shot of tequila down in front of her seat and she throws it back. It's when she turns back around on the bar stool that her eyes lock with Brooke's as she's stepping off the stage.

This ain't what I had in mind

This heart full of regret

Forever left behind

With this picture in my head

Peyton turns around at puts her elbows on the bar. She can feel the panic making its way through her body. Maybe she was imagining Brooke looking at her, she was feeling tipsy. Yeah, that's what it was. She was tipsy and she imagined it all. She picks up her beer and takes a long drink.

"I never really took you for much of a beer drinker, you know. But, then again, I guess I didn't really know you at all."

Peyton looks beside of her where Brooke has sat down. She can hear the malice in Brooke's voice and she instantly regrets everything up to this point. She had no business coming in here. She sighs and turns towards Brooke.

"Brooke-"

"What? Let me guess. I'm so sorry Brooke that you ran into me here when I was trying to find an easy fuck so I could really 'get the college experience'." Brooke signals to the bartender that she needs another beer and when he sets the glass down in front of her she chugs the whole thing in one drink and asks for another. "So, was that about right?"

"No." Peyton feels so many emotions at once: remorse, anger, sadness, hostility, and love. They crush into her at once and it clouds her already befuddled mind and she doesn't know what to say to Brooke. She just stares at her, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"Well that's surprising since that's basically why you dumped me. Oh, I'm sorry, that's why you 'let me go'." Brooke shakes her head and hates herself for feeling the hot tears stinging her eyes.

"You're being unfair, Brooke. And you know it." Peyton realizes a second too late that this was the wrong thing to say. Brooke whips around so fast that Peyton is surprised that she didn't fall off of her barstool.

"I'm being _unfair_? You know what's unfair Peyton? Getting dumped because you're too fucking _familiar_." A few people had turned to look at them and Peyton could feel her face turning a slight shade of red.

"Can we go outside?" Peyton was already standing up and she put her hand on Brooke's elbow tugging slightly. Brooke pushed her hand away and got off of her stool. Without looking or saying anything to Peyton she storms out of the bar.

Peyton rushes to catch up with her. When she gets outside and finds her behind the side of the bar she reaches for her hand to turn her around. Brooke pulls it out of her grasp.

"Don't fucking touch me, Peyton!" Peyton suddenly noticed just how drunk Brooke really was and it worries her that she's been making a habit of this as of late. Brooke hiccups and looks directly into Peyton's eyes. "I hate you."

"Brooke-"

"No, Peyton, I really do. I _hate_ you. Was I not good enough? Was I not a good enough lay? Was I not completely useless like Lucas that you were oh so obsessed with? Huh, what was it? What made me not enough for you?" She's openly crying now and Peyton just wants to hold her until she stops. She could never handle a crying Brooke Davis.

Peyton's heart breaks at hearing the words spill out of Brooke. She thought that Brooke would be fine, that she would be angry for a while but then she would realize this was what was best for them and they would make their way back to being friends. Looking at Brooke now, she realized how far off that thought was.

"Of course you were enough for me Brooke." Peyton let's her head hang down. "I just, well, I don't know Brooke. I just needed some space." Hearing herself say it out loud now, it sounds ridiculous. She looks up and sees Brooke wiping the tears off of her face; she notices that her makeup still looks perfect. Brooke always was good at hiding her emotions behind a pretty mask. It hurts Peyton that Brooke thinks she needs to use that in front of her now when she used to be the one to help Brooke take it off.

"Whatever, Peyton. Have all the space you need. I'm done. I'm so fucking done with this."

Peyton thinks that maybe she stop Brooke when she turns around and heads back inside the bar, that maybe she should tell her it was a mistake and that she's sorry, she thinks a lot of things but remains silent. She just turns around and watches Brooke walk back inside and through the dirty bar window she sees Brooke grab a drink, head back over to the table of frat guys and put on a fake smile that could fool the best of them. She doesn't miss the lingering touches Brooke leaves on said frat boys arm or the way she sways when she walks; capturing the attention of almost everyone inside.

She pulls her leather jacket a little bit tighter around her and waits for the light to turn so she can cross the street. It wasn't right of her to come here, to go inside, she ended things. But they do say that hindsight is 20/20.

That's right

And she's up there rocking

And I'm getting forgotten tonight


End file.
